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Wonderful read.
I agree with the following.
A failing economy goes hand in hand with crime and drug use.
You can not blame Hispanics or Blacks for this.
Throwing garbage out of windows, playing loud music at all hours,
disrespecting rules and destroying apartments are not life style differences.
They are Behavioral Problems. The finger of blame is pointed at the person
and not their economic situation.
My family grew up poor. We were poor but we were not pigs.
That was ingrained into us at an early age.
In this tale of the Bronx...
Jews,Irish and Italian lived among each other.
I am sure many were poor as well and yet
still managed to respect and keep their community
safe and clean. It proves that even with culture differences
assimilation by respecting each others and property is key
to getting along with and living alongside one another.
Respect your neighbors. Respect your neighborhood.
Do not litter ,do not graffiti, do not play loud music all ours of the night,
do not smoke so much weed that the smoke comes right thru your neighbors windows,
don't jack up your car and fix it in the street. Work for a living.
Be polite,when greeting your neighbors, help each other if called upon.
Love God, love your family, love your Country.
I will be happy to call you my neighbor.....
If you disagree.............. go find some place else to live...........you ain't wanted here........
What I find interesting about what was written is many people many not know this, but the Bronx was created as the latest "suburb" for the middle class. It was an escape from Manhattan, which back in the day was overcrowded and dirty, so lots of middle class families settled in the Bronx to live the middle class dream.
It seems as if two of the biggest factors aside from crime and drug activity, was the building boom in Westchester and Long Island and the expansion of the railroads (these families wanted to have true middle class living and own a home), in addition to some of the buildings not being modernized enough to meet the needs of middle class families, so that was part of it too, as landlords did not want to upgrade their buildings.
There is a reason that areas like Riverdale remained stable, and that is because when they built Henry Hudson Parkway and started to break up large plots of land for large doorman buildings targeted for large families and middle to upper middle class, those families that didn't leave the Bronx entirely, moved to areas like Riverdale. Fieldston had and still has a very suburban feel and housing stock to accommodate large families, so lots of Jews moved from other areas that they felt they had outgrown if you will, so when we look at upper middle class areas of the Bronx, that appears to be why there are so few of them today. The middle class ones that survived are still quite suburban in feel with good housing stock (Country Club, Morris Park, Woodlawn, Pelham Gardens and parts of Throggs Neck).
Not too shocking since the Bronx at one time was part of Westchester, so aesthetically some areas do look very much like Westchester, even today.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lillie767
another major cause of the decline of the Bronx was the construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway that physically divided parks and neighborhoods.
You are correct. I hear that when Robert Moses proposed building the Cross Bronx Expressway, the communities impacted tried to fight, but they rammed it through anyway, which destroyed several neighborhoods.
In looking at the other boroughs, Queens has large swaths that resembles more of Long Island to be honest, in terms of stand alone houses and housing stock. Brooklyn has its brownstones, and Staten Island is also quite suburban.
Yeah. Robert Moses, evil incarnate right? Didn't he single handedly destroy the Bronx. And many other such places?
Yes, he had a huge impact on destroying the Bronx, primarily with the expressways. They cut off neighborhoods and made them less desirable. No one wants to live next to a loud expressway, not to mention the poor air quality, etc. that comes with that. At the end of the day, the Bronx was built for the middle class, and guys like came along and destroyed it.
I know quite a few people that were born in the Bronx that live in some of the most expensive areas of the City, so those with money usually escaped from the borough.
Huge parts of the Bronx were developed/intended for (white/European) working and middle classes to get them out of crowded conditions of lower Manhattan.
If you look at old elevated train and or subway maps you see major lines on west and east side of Manhattan run from downtown/Wall Street, through midtown and up onto Bronx
Yes, he had a huge impact on destroying the Bronx, primarily with the expressways. They cut off neighborhoods and made them less desirable. No one wants to live next to a loud expressway, not to mention the poor air quality, etc. that comes with that. At the end of the day, the Bronx was built for the middle class, and guys like came along and destroyed it.
I know quite a few people that were born in the Bronx that live in some of the most expensive areas of the City, so those with money usually escaped from the borough.
What I find interesting about what was written is many people many not know this, but the Bronx was created as the latest "suburb" for the middle class. It was an escape from Manhattan, which back in the day was overcrowded and dirty, so lots of middle class families settled in the Bronx to live the middle class dream.
It seems as if two of the biggest factors aside from crime and drug activity, was the building boom in Westchester and Long Island and the expansion of the railroads (these families wanted to have true middle class living and own a home), in addition to some of the buildings not being modernized enough to meet the needs of middle class families, so that was part of it too, as landlords did not want to upgrade their buildings.
There is a reason that areas like Riverdale remained stable, and that is because when they built Henry Hudson Parkway and started to break up large plots of land for large doorman buildings targeted for large families and middle to upper middle class, those families that didn't leave the Bronx entirely, moved to areas like Riverdale. Fieldston had and still has a very suburban feel and housing stock to accommodate large families, so lots of Jews moved from other areas that they felt they had outgrown if you will, so when we look at upper middle class areas of the Bronx, that appears to be why there are so few of them today. The middle class ones that survived are still quite suburban in feel with good housing stock (Country Club, Morris Park, Woodlawn, Pelham Gardens and parts of Throggs Neck).
Not too shocking since the Bronx at one time was part of Westchester, so aesthetically some areas do look very much like Westchester, even today.
You are correct. I hear that when Robert Moses proposed building the Cross Bronx Expressway, the communities impacted tried to fight, but they rammed it through anyway, which destroyed several neighborhoods.
In looking at the other boroughs, Queens has large swaths that resembles more of Long Island to be honest, in terms of stand alone houses and housing stock. Brooklyn has its brownstones, and Staten Island is also quite suburban.
Correction; the Island was largely rural until that GD VNB was built. In some spots along North Shore you could call things "suburban", but south of what is now SIE, and much of west and east shores were vast open land, good amounts were either farm or wet lands.
Even by standards of day Robert Moses was a racist bigot with a bug up his ass against the poor/working classes. And that's saying something given attitudes of post WWII New York.
He busted up working/lower class or ethnic areas of Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, but also saw to it certain areas of Queens and Long Island remained largely white/suburban.
Robert Moses hated trains, so every chance he could the guy screwed the railroads. None of the parkways or highways built by RM can handle trains. He put the VNB at site where city was going to build subway line linking SI to Brooklyn under the Narrows.
RM also kept mass transit out of many areas of Queens and Long Island by building overpasses on parkways and highways with too little clearance for trucks and even some buses. For a guy with total hard on for cars RM never learned to drive in his life. Until day he died the guy was driven around by his black chauffeur.
Keep in mind when I say Robert Moses hated "ethnics" it generally included Italians and Irish. Time and time again when it came time to bust an area with a high way or something, guess who got picked on first?
Gradually city and state have begun reversing some of damage caused by RM; in particular current mayor Sam The Eagle seems intent on dismantling city's car culture. But even before that Westway was defeated and instead we got a Westside highway that restored neighborhood access to waterfront. Same thing is happening in Bronx: https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs...essway-rebuild
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